Barn Boards and Baling Wire

John Sumwalt For Agri-View
Feb 16, 2025
Feb 16, 2025

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David Kronwall of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, is a retired advertising copywriter and producer. He worked summers for an uncle on an 80-acre dairy farm near Zenda in Walworth County, Wisconsin, where his grandparents raised four boys. Shown here on his 1952 Farmall, he now owns seven vintage IH Farmall tractors, including his grandfather’s 1944 H that he first drove 65 years ago when he was 12 years old.

Contributed

Clarence and Marilyn Ballweg’s farm near Dane, Wisconsin, is photographed in the late 1970s. They sold it in 1996 to their nephew Alan Ballweg. She says she remembers the ‘aromas that last time I walked through our buildings when I was moving. I still get choked up thinking of it all these years later.’

Contributed

An aerial photo from about 1952 shows the 80-acre Albert and Hattie Kronwall dairy farm near Zenda, Wisconsin. The farm was purchased in 1917. There’s now a cornfield where the barn, built in 1909, and buildings once stood. Albert Kronwall was a Swedish immigrant.

Contributed

The Kronwall Farm is shown before it was purchased in 1917 by David Kronwall’s grandparents, Albert and Hattie Kronwall.

Contributed

Marilyn Ballweg carries milk to the house about 1970.

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John Sumwalt For Agri-View

My recent column, “Farewell to Our Family Farm,” struck a chord with many readers who grew up in rural areas and have experienced some of the same sadness I described upon visiting our home place for the last time. People shared fond memories of growing up on farms and the mystical bond that still connects them to the land.

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John Sumwalt mug Agri-View — John Sumwalt

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John Sumwalt is a retired pastor and the son of dairy farmers. He is the author of “Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives.” Email johnsumwalt@gmail.com or call 414-339-0676 to reach him.